2017 reissue, originally released in 2000. Considered to be Saint Etienne's reaction to the trip hop and ambient movements in Britain, the album is an effortless cohesive journey, electronica flourishes flowing into pop songs and falling back out again. The album strove to keep the concise, song-oriented focus of Good Humor, while expanding the horizons of their music to focus on abstract, dreamy, electronic sounds. There are moments of pop pleasure here, surrounded by spare, languid electronica sections, vaguely reminiscent of the High Llamas. This is where maturity pays off. Saint Etienne never lingers too long in one area, letting the album flow gracefully between these two extremes and placing some very good pop melodies along the way. There are no knockout singles on par with those from So Tough or Tiger Bay, but Saint Etienne has pretty much given up on the pop charts, preferring to concentrate on cohesive, stronger albums.
A1 | Late Morning | 4:13 |
A2 | Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) | 3:41 |
A3 | Sycamore | 3:46 |
A4 | Don't Back Down | 4:49 |
A5 | Just A Little Overcome | 3:41 |
B1 | Boy Is Crying | 3:52 |
B2 | Aspects Of Lambert | 3:30 |
B3 | Downey CA. | 4:24 |
B4 | How We Used To Live | 9:02 |
B5 | The Place At Dawn | 1:47 |